Frederic Emil Oder, MD

ODER, Frederic Emil, MD age 81 of Wakefield, previously of Gloucester, died peacefully at home Monday February 19.  Born in Alhambra, California May 22, 1942, he was the son of Frederic Carl Emil Oder, PhD and Dorothy Gene Brumfield.  He leaves his devoted wife, Judith Oder.  He leaves the mother of his sons, Barbara Oder and her husband Tim Fish of Melrose.  He leaves his beloved sons, Terrence Oder, MD of Hartford, Connecticut and Patrick Oder, MD and his wife, Susan of Wakefield.  He leaves his daughter, Jilian Noelle Oder of Brighton, whom he called "the most beautiful baby I had ever seen."   He was the proud brother of Richard Oder of Old Chatham, New York and sister, Barbara Debes and her wife, Susan Messerschmitt of Rochester, New York and nephews, Jordan of Rochester, New York and Remy of Memphis, Tennessee.

Frederic leaves four grandchildren, Alexander Oder, Ethan Oder, both of Wakefield, Sophia Oder of New York City and Celia Glosser as well as nieces, great-nieces and a great-nephew.

A retired physician and psychiatrist Dr. Oder graduated Harvard College cum laude in 1963 and earned his MD at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1967.  Major Oder served in the US Army Medical Corps in Germany, 1968-1971.  He settled in Gloucester where he raised his family and was on the staff of Addison Gilbert Hospital.  He loved his home on Good Harbor Beach overlooking the ocean and jogging around Cape Ann.  He was especially proud of his Boston Marathon runs.  He was a voracious reader and his "heroes," as he called them, were Lincoln and Churchill.   He was an opera lover and member of the Wakefield Opera Club.  He could sing arias in French, Italian and German but could also vocalize perfectly with Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash songs.  As a youth he sang in the National Cathedral, his favorite hymn "Panis Angelicus."  He also enjoyed playing squash, skiing, traveling, cooking and spending time with family.

Services and burial will be private. Donations in his memory may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Arrangements in the care of the McDonald Funeral Home, Wakefield.